Rehabber’s Rehab

Our countertops were installed today.  We now have SURFACES.  Places on which to put things.  A covering that keeps the dirt out of the drawers.  And the sinks are installed.  We have to get the plumber back to get running water to them, but in terms of appearances, we are starting to get there.

The bathroom and kitchen look like what they’re supposed to be now, and I know that we are so close to utilizing them for their actual purpose.  In a few days I can (or Thor can) wash dishes in the dishwasher and not the tub.  The countertops in addition to the microwave that Thor and Matt installed last weekend are turning the room into a usable space. The microwave was a bit more trouble than we thought it would be because the electrician put the plug a little too high and at first we thought a part was missing.  All the worry was for nothing and eventually it went in.  This increased our quality of life also because we were able to move the old microwave out of the office and are able to start to use that space for its true purpose.

I think I am most pleased with the bathroom.  It is a remnant that we choose in the middle of a snowstorm on a Friday afternoon.  All of the slabs of granite were frozen together and it took 6 guys to pull them apart so that we could look at this piece.  It looks awsome with cabinets and the slate we already have in there.  There was definitely a moment of worry when we chose it because we didn’t have any samples with us to make sure it matched, so I was doubly thrilled to see how good it looked.

The kitchen is thrilling too.  We were finally able to settle the debate over whether the countertops were black or not.  They are not.  They are green with black, gold, and white flecks.  After this weekend it will work like how it’s supposed to too.  As I type, Thor is in the kitchen installing the tambour (appliance garage) in the kitchen corner.

Well we’re doing our part.  On Thor’s day off today he picked up a console table that is great for our living room.  It is narrow enough that you can still walk past it, and our stuff just fits on it.  We might put another under the living room window, although I was hoping for something with bigger drawers that we could keep games in.  Now we’re going to keep our eye out for a bench with storage underneath in that area instead.

He also purchased a microwave so we have now expanded our limited kitchen and our cooking options.  In addition to eating sandwiches every night or cooking bratwurst up on our mini propane grill, we can now heat up left-overs in minutes.  We bought the cheapest microwave we could find since we don’t know what exact size will go in our kitchen when it’s done, or where it will go.

Some cheap and free physical labor was done today.  Thor finished scraping the wall paper in the bottom half of the closet.  Unfortunately this is probably the easiest part since the rest is over eye level and on the ceililng.  Yes, they even wall papered the ceiling.